When the Creatures Come

All was silent as the dark ruled. Three minutes until midnight. The sky was the darkest of the dark, moonlight barely shining through the blanket of shadows. I knew it would get darker soon, it always did. No stars were present and an eerie silence screamed louder than anyone would think was possible. Shadows lurked in places unseen, waiting for their time to pounce.

Two minutes until midnight. I pulled my cloak over my head and secured my dagger into the scabbard on my side. A sheath filled with arrows hung from my back and a bow was strapped diagonally across my torso. Obsidian, my dragon, was waiting patiently beside me, his black scales and wings still as stone. There was nothing left to do but wait, agonizing silence piercing the crepuscular sky.

There was a reason that midnight was so chilling, so avoided by ordinary members of society. It was the time that most people never got to see in their lifetime, not that they would ever want to.

The miniscule amount of lighting left in the air dimmed, leaving nothing but a picture of black. One minute until midnight. It was time.

My unusual cyan coloured eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of lighting. I clipped my crystal necklace around my neck and climbed on Obsidian. 'One minute.' I whispered to him in Dragova, dragon language. 'One minute until midnight. Get ready, Obsidian.'

Midnight was not a time for anyone to be outside. It was not a time for anyone to be awake. It was certainly not a time for people to be doing what we were doing, yet, we were. Nobody leaves the safety of their home at a time like this. Not with the danger lurking around every corner, ready to lash out and destroy everything in its path. No, midnight was not a time to be adventurous and venture out of the safety of your home.

'Go.' I told my dragon, squeezing my legs together on his back. His large wings spread apart and we lifted of the ground, into the night air. We had to be ready for anything. One wrong move and we were goners, as was everyone else in proximity.

People weren't allowed outside during the night. It was against the Cailvan law, the law of our people. Nobody, that was, except Night Riders. People like me. People who have been trained to survive midnight. I pulled the hood of my dark cloak over my head, concealing my face and long black hair that came down to the middle of my thighs. The first chime of the clock tower sounded, followed by a second and a third.

'It's happening.' I said to myself, taking a deep breath and fixing my eyes on the ground beneath us. Midnight was not just a time that signified the middle of the night. It was the darkest hour, a time that was and should be feared. It was when the creatures would emanate.

Creatures from goblins to great beasts like an Anviam, the Creature of the Night and the greatest beast of all, all emerge from their homes in the shadows and stalk anything that lives.

A sudden movement caught my eye, something on the ground was moving. The creatures were out. 'Obsidian, down.' I hissed to the dragon. His giant head turned towards me and his eyes bored into mine.

'Not yet, Seraphina. It's too dangerous, I tell you every time. You know the rules, Yelma would not like it.' He said. I knew he was right, he was a wise dragon, Obsidian was. Yelma was my superior, the leader of all Night Riders. She always told us to not to land until two minutes after midnight. Creatures were much more aware when they first came out than they were a few minutes into when they arrive. It makes sense, but something seemed different tonight. I had an uneasy feeling inside me, like something was wrong. The crystal necklace around my neck felt ice cold against my skin. My cyan orbs cut though the darkness to catch a shadow moving into an unlocked house underneath us.